56o 



NA TURE 



[October 5, 1905 



photograph of an important Egyptian tomb-painting 

 depicting Minoan ambassadors bringing rare vases 

 of Cretan workmanship to the court of Queen Hatasu 

 or Hatshepsu at Thebes. 



In connection with tlie point raised anent the 

 Minoan way, already described, at Knossos, that 

 there was a great gap in history between the last 

 (presumably non-Arvan) Minoans and the first (Aryan) 

 Hellenes, we may 'note that Mr. R. S. Conway 

 returns to the charge in defence of the " .-Xryanism " 

 of the Minoans in another article on the Eteocretan 

 inscriptions of classical times, which he considers to 

 represent the speech of the Minoan Cretans. Tliere is 

 no proof of this whatever, and even if Mr. Conway 

 were to succeed in proving the Indo-European 

 character of this late " Eteocretan " language up to 

 the hilt, this would not in the least shake our convic- 

 tion that the old Minoans spoke a non-Indo-European 

 tongue. The craniological and archaeological evidence 

 must be taken into consideration as well as the philo- 

 logical, which can apparently be twisted into meaning 

 anything that the investigator wishes. The crani- 

 ologist assigns the Rlinoans to the " Mediterranean " 

 race, to which the ancient Egyptians also belonged; 

 and the archaeologist brings the Minoan and Egyptian 

 cultures back almost to a common origin. Further, 

 Mr. Conway's idea goes counter to those of many of 

 the philologists themselves, especially Kretschmer, 

 whose view that the prae-Hellenic speech of Greece 

 was non-Aryan agrees with the results of craniological 

 and archaeological research, and is generally accepted 

 now. 



This completes the list of articles dealing directly 

 or indirectly with the Minoan or Mycenaean antiqui- 

 ties, the relics of the prehistoric culture of Greece. 



Mr. Dawkins contributes an interesting philological 

 article, entitled " Notes from Karpathos," describing 

 the linguistic phenomena of that little known island, 

 which he visited two years ago. The dialect seems 

 to be more divergent from that of Crete than might 

 have been expected. It presents all the peculiar 

 dialectical phenomena of the Southern /Egean. Such 

 pronunciations as " hyaloshorzho " (■;cyaXosopzo) for 

 KaXo;^;(Bpu)v, which strike one so forcibly in Crete, are 

 well represented. .Aberrant grammatical forms are 

 not uncommon. The old third plural in -(tl{v) sur- 

 vives. Here we have a considerable difference from 

 Cretan practice, which prefers third plural in- v( : 

 "they went," in Cretan i(pvyav(, is in Karpathian 

 e'<j>vya(n{v), and "they are walking," Cretan Trarnvue, 

 is' in Karpathian 7raTova-i.{v), which sounds quite 

 ".\ttic." This is an interesting survival. Articles of 

 this kind are of great use and value. 



Mr. M. N. Tod and Mr. E. S. Forster add contri- 

 butions to epigraphic scholarship, and the latter also 

 describes Laconian topography and archeeological 

 sites. Mr. A. J. B. Wace has' an article on Greek 

 grotesque figures as charms against the evil eve. 

 The modern Hellenes wear charms in the shape of 

 little silver or coral figures of hunchbacks (gobbi or 

 gobbetti) for the same purpose. 



Dr. Schafer's German article on " .\ltagyptische 

 Pfliige, Joche," is apparently published in the 

 " ."Xnttual " on account of the ancient Egyptian basket 

 figured on p. 140, which is of the same type as the 

 Greek liknon, discussed by .Miss Jane Harrison in her 

 note on the " Mystica Vannus lacchi," which follows. 

 Otherwise one would have thought that its proper 

 place would have been found in an Egvptological pub- 

 lication. The Berlin Museum has a large collection 

 of ancient Egyptian agricultural implements, which 

 are, however, of course all, with the exception of a 

 fine plough and the basket aforesaid, of well known 

 types equally well represented in other museums. 



H. R. H.ALL. 



NO. 1875, Vf>L 72] 



SOUTH AFRICAN MEETING OF THE 

 BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 



LETTERS from local correspondents in South 

 -Africa have just brought us some notes upon the 

 recent meeting of the British .Association. During 

 the progress of the meeting several cablegrams which 

 appeared in the Times were summarised in these 

 columns, so that many of the matters mentioned by 

 our correspondents have already been recorded. Dr. 

 J. D. F. Gilchrist has sent us an account of the part of 

 the proceedings of the association at Cape Town, and 

 the following particulars in so far as they are con- 

 nected with Cape Town are from his communication. 

 .As, following our usual custom, we have arranged 

 with oflicers of the sections for reports of the proceed- 

 ings at sectional meetings, it is unnecessary now to 

 give anv account of these meetings. 



Dr. Gilchrist states that as early as August 6 some 

 of the British .Association visitors began to arrive in 

 Cape Town by the Tintagel Castle; eighteen more 

 arrived on .August 8 by the Kildonan Castle, and forty- 

 three by the Durham Castle on .August 12. The main 

 body, however (eighty-six), including most of the 

 official party, arrived by the Saxon on Tuesday, 

 .August 15. 



The voyage of the main party was favoured by 

 excellent conditions of weather, and the usual routine 

 of life and entertainments on board was diversified 

 by lectures by members on appropriate subjects of 

 interest, and in one or two cases by scientific work, 

 such as the collecting of plankton and temperature 

 observations of sea and air. A few advance copies 

 of " Science in South Africa," a handbook prepared 

 on the occasion of the visit, were on board, and 

 afforded some insight into the scientific work and 

 problems engaging the attention of South .Africans. 



On arrival at Cape Town Docks the passengers 

 were transferred to the train waiting alongside, and 

 about 10 a.m. on August 15 arrived at the main 

 station, where they were met by the mayor, the 

 hospitality committee, and others. The council of the 

 association met at 12 noon and the general meeting at 

 2 p.m., and the formal business was quickly got 

 through. 



The details of the somewhat extensive programme 

 were in an advanced state of preparation, the general 

 plan and coordination of the whole having been under- 

 taken by a central organising committee for South 

 .Africa, the local details by the several reception com- 

 mittees at the seven local centres to be visited. These 

 local committees were subdivided into entertainment, 

 hospitality, excursions, and finance subcommittees. 



Great assistance was rendered by Mr. Silva White, 

 assistant secretary of the British .Association, who 

 arrived some weeks before the first meeting and took 

 over the general direction of, and responsibility for, 

 the arrangements. He arranged for the services of 

 four assistant secretaries, who were instructed as to 

 the details to be carried out on certain sections of the 

 programme allotted to them, an arrangement which 

 was fully justified by the subsequent results. 



The formal business of the association commenced 

 with the presidential address, which was delivered 

 on the evening of .August 15 in the Citv Hall, which 

 had just been completed in time for the meeting. 

 The work of the various sections began the following 

 day, and occupied the mornings from Wednesday, 

 .\ugust 16, to Friday, .August 18, half the sectional 

 work being transacted at Cape Town and half at 

 Johannesburg. 



In the afternoon of .August 16 there was a large 

 attendance at the Governor's garden party, and in the 

 evening the Mayor met the visitors at a reception in 

 the Citv Hall. 



